Countdown
by The Anime Otaku
Summary: SS oneshot. Confronted with the fact that he is loosing Sakura forever, Syaoran sits alone in his room and counts down the last remaning seconds before she is lost to him for good. Or is she? First CCS fan fic. Be gentel.


Disclaimer: Cardcaptor Sakura doesn't belong to me, it belongs to CLAMP. The charters have been borrowed for entertainment purposes only. So don't sue, you won't get much anyhow.

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Countdown

By: Anime Otaku

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Syaoran Li sat alone in the apartment room that he used to share with his three best friends. A bottle of sake and an empty glass were the only objects that occupied the table in front of him. The apartment had always seemed empty ever since Tomoyo and Eroil moved out, but now that Sakura was going to be permanently moving out, in -- he glanced at a nearby clock -- five minutes; it was really going to be lonely. Syaoran got up from the couch and walked into one of the bedrooms of the apartment. This room had been his and Eroil's, but when he and Tomoyo moved out, it had become his and Sakura's. Now it was just his. Sakura's things were already packed and ready to be moved to her new home.

He was about to leave the room when something caught his eye. He walked over to Sakura's bed and pulled out a picture that had been sticking out from under the mattress. Despite what was happening, or was about to happen, Syaoran smiled. The picture was of him and Sakura at a masquerade ball that the university had put together. They had gone as a prince and princess, one of the cutest couples there they had been told. Of all the time that they had spent together, he remembered that night the most of all. She had spent all night in his arms, whether they were dancing with each other or not. It was the greatest thing ever, a real heaven on earth.

Syaoran became alarmed when a few droplets of water fell onto the picture. Closing his eyes, he shook his head furiously, trying to stop the tears. This was no time to be feeling sorry for himself. The only reason he was in this state was because he had put himself there. Gripping the photo in his hands, Syaoran tried to rip it in half, but failed. No matter how much he wanted to, he just couldn't throw away his memories of Sakura, no matter how much it hurt to think about her and be reminded of her. Syaoran placed the picture face down on his desk as he left his room. He had to get out of there before he really lost it.

Back in the living room, he glanced at the clock. Three more minutes and it would all be over. Grabbing the bottle of sake, he poured himself a full glass. Taking the glass, he walked over to the tuxedo that hung on the wall next to the door. Eroil and Tomoyo were probably already at the ceremonies, wondering where the heck he was. He hated to let them down like this, but it was better if he didn't show up. Better for him and for Sakura.

Syaoran looked at the clock again and growled. Only a minute had gone by. Why in the hell was this taking so damn long? He wanted this to be over with already so he could go back home at the end of the school year. He had to get out of Tomoeda. No, he had to get out of Japan. Only then could he finally sever all of his ties with his life here. He could immerse himself in his work and finally be able to forget everything. At least he hoped he could.

The phone started to ring, but he ignored it. He wanted to wallow in his self-pity alone and uninterrupted. The ringing finally stopped when the answering machine picked up.

"Hi. This is Sakura," he heard the recording say.

Damn it! He had forgotten to change the recording. The last thing he needed was to hear right now was her voice, real or recorded.

"No one can come to the phone now, but if you leave you name and number either me or Syaoran-kun will try and call you back. Although it will probably be me since Syaoran-kun is a lazy bum and never answers the phone anyway."

"Hey, I heard that," his own recorded voice said.

"Hehehe. Well, you know what to do. Bye."

The recording stopped and Syaoran hoped whoever called would just hang up and leave him in peace. They didn't though and he heard a voice that belonged to a person he really didn't want to deal with.

'Syaoran, where in the hell are you?'

It was Eriol.

'This thing is about to kick off in less than a minute and nobody can find you. Tomoyo-chan is in a panic and Sakura... well, she's worried, too. She really wants you to be here, Syaoran, everybody does. Look, you can still make it in time if you're listening to this right now, which I know you are. So whatever you're drinking, put it down, get dressed and get yourself over here. We'll be looking for you. Bye.'

The message stopped and Syaoran pressed the erase button. Eriol was right when he said that he could still make it, but he wouldn't. Syaoran looked back at the clock. Thirty seconds. Thirty seconds and he would soon drink himself into a complete mess. Who cared anyway? It wouldn't make much difference. He'd get trashed tonight, sleep off his hangover during the weekend and be ready for class as if nothing had happened.

Ten seconds. The time was drawing closer, not much longer. Syaoran's hand tightened around the glass in anticipation.

Five seconds... four... three... two... one. That was it.

Sakura Kinomoto was no more. Now it's Mrs. Sakura Mibu. Syaoran lifted the glass and toasted the air.

"Congratulations, Sakura. I hope you'll be very happy with your new husband."

Syaoran brought the glass to his lips then stopped. He tried to down the drink, but his hands refused to move any further. Yelling in frustration, he threw the glass across the room and watched it shatter against the wall. He couldn't do it. As much as he wanted to, he couldn't break his promise to Sakura.

"So much for picking up my drinking habit again," he grumbled, putting the sake bottle away.

The phone started to ring again as Syaoran cleaned up the broken shards of glass.

"World," he begged, "just leave me the hell alone."

When the answering machine finished, Syaoran expected to hear Eriol or Tomoyo yelling at him for being a jerk by not showing up. What he heard next, he was not expecting.

'Syaoran-kun? Are you there?'

Syaoran dropped the glass shards, his eyes widening. "Sakura?"

'Syaoran-kun, if you're there, please pick up. I really need to talk to you. Please, it's important. If you don't answer, I'll probably never get the chance to call you again--'

Before Syaoran knew what he was doing, he had snatched the phone off the cradle and connected with Sakura.

"Sakura?"

'Syaoran-kun, you're there!'

"Yeah, where else would I be?"

'I don't know? At the wedding ceremonies maybe?'

His hand tightened on the receiver. "I'm sorry, Sakura, but, I couldn't bring myself to go. I just couldn't."

'I know. I don't blame you.'

"I'm glad. So, tell me, how did the ceremonies go? Knowing you and Daidouji, it was probably one hell of a wedding."

"Sakura?"

'I... I don't know... I don't know how the ceremonies went.'

"What? What do you mean you don't know? You were there, you should know. The whole thing was about you anyway."

'Syaoran-kun... I... I don't know because I... I didn't go.'

Syaoran felt like he had been punched in the gut. He reached out and grabbed the wall for support.

"What? What do you mean you didn't go?"

'I ran away. I left just before it all began.'

"But why?"

'Because I... Syaoran-kun, I... I just... I just couldn't go through with it. I couldn't do it, Syaoran-kun.'

"Why not?"

'Because... I couldn't do it because... Syaoran-kun, I...'

"Never mind that," he said, putting his shoes on. "You said you ran away, right? So where are you now?"

'I'm... I'm right outside your apartment.'

The receiver fell from Syaoran's numb fingers. Praying this wasn't some kind of sick joke, he threw the door open and ran onto the walkway and looked down into the lot. Sakura was down there, standing in her wedding gown, her cell phone pressed to her ear. Her head was bowed so he couldn't see her beautiful emerald eyes. Syaoran slowly made his way down the steps, taking them one at a time, despite his urge to run down the steps and take Sakura in his arms. For some reason his legs did not want to do what they were told.

Finally, after what seemed to take him forever, he was standing in front of her.

"Sakura," he softly whispered.

When she didn't answer him, he reached out and tilted her head up. She had tears rolling down her face and looked incredibly used up, but he thought she was still the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. He gently pulled the cell phone from her fingers and turned it off.

"You'll kill your battery if you leave it on all the time," he said, smiling.

Sakura smiled for a split second then threw herself into his arms, burying her face in his chest. She said his name over and over again and started to cry harder. Syaoran wrapped his arms around her and just held on. His mood immediately lifted and he felt like a whole new man. For whatever reason, Sakura was with him again and his heart was whole.

"Come on, let's get you inside and get you out of this dress. It's got to be hot in that thing."

Sakura couldn't say anything and just nodded her head. Syaoran lead her back up to his apartment and locked the door.

"You're stuff's still in our room. After you've changed, I want to know why you ran away."

Sakura nodded and walked back to her room, closing the door behind her. After she was out of sight, Syaoran picked the phone up and started to call Eriol then stopped himself. Did they really have to know that she was here? He returned the handset to the cradle. He'd wait a little longer. When she told him her reason for running away, he'd make the decision on weather or not he should call them.

Wondering what was taking Sakura so long to change, Syaoran walked to his room. He was about to knock when he heard the soft sound of sobbing. He rushed inside and found Sakura kneeling in the middle of the room, crying into the wedding gown. His face went red at the sight of her in a white and pink laced teddy.

(She was wearing THAT underneath her gown?)

Syaoran got himself under control and knelt down in front of her, placing his hands on her shoulders.

"Sakura," he whispered, "Sakura, what's wrong? Why are you crying?"

Sakura looked up at him, and for the second time that day, threw herself into his arms. Syaoran held on to her again and let her cry. Whatever was wrong with her, he wanted to be there for her, to try and help her.

"Sakura? Do you think we could sit on the bed?" he asked when she calmed down a little. "I'm starting to get a cramp."

Sakura nodded and Syaoran got up. She refused to let go of him and when he sat down, she ended up in his lap, her arms wrapped around his neck.

"Okay, Sakura," he said, "tell me, why did you run away?"

"He doesn't love me," she whimpered out. "Professor Mibu didn't really love me after all. Just like you said."

"How did you find out?"

"I caught him having sex with one of the bridesmaids in his changing room. He was smiling during the whole thing and at that moment, I knew that he didn't give a damn about me at all."

Syaoran tightened his hold on Sakura. "That bastard. I always knew he was a playboy, but this... and on his wedding day..."

"I'm glad I saw it."

Syaoran looked at Sakura in shock. "Why?"

"When I saw him together with that girl, I didn't feel anger or sorrow. I felt relief. But I still felt betrayed so I ran."

"Why did you feel relief?"

"Do you remember that conversation we had about a week ago? I told you that I had moved on and you should do the same."

Syaoran nodded. "Yeah, I remember. It's something that I'd rather not dwell on."

"I felt relieved because I knew that what I told you that day was a lie. I never really moved on. I just fooled myself into thinking that I had."

Syaoran stared at Sakura, wide-eyed, daring to hope. "Sakura...?"

Sakura brought her hands up and cupped his face. "I still love you, Syaoran-kun. I always have and it looks like I always will."

Syaoran felt something give way inside of him. He pulled Sakura closer to him and brought his lips crashing down on hers. He kissed her with all the love that he had for her and felt a surge of happiness when she returned it. Sakura twisted in Syaoran's embrace until she was straddling him and wrapped her legs around him, never breaking the kiss. Finally the two broke apart, gasping for air.

"I love you, Sakura," Syaoran said in between breaths. "And nothing will ever change that."

Sakura smiled and kissed him again. She brought her hands between them and started to unbutton his shirt. Syaoran didn't try and stop her. He helped her undress him then he undressed her. Sakura opened herself to Syaoran and he fitted himself into her.

Sakura and Syaoran lost themselves in each other.

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Syaoran stared down at the sleeping angel in his arms, hardly believing what had happened between them. In the course of one day, Sakura had gone from being somebody's future wife, to being his. Not that he was complaining, but, it was still a lot to take in at once. He felt Sakura move beside him then she opened her eyes halfway and looked up at him.

"Hi there," he said, smiling.

"Hi," she said back, still half asleep. She looked down at them and blushed. "Did we really...?"

"Yeah, we did. Having regrets?"

She shook her head slightly. "Nope, not at all. In fact, I couldn't be happier."

"I'm glad," he said, taking her hand. He felt something cold and metallic on her ring finger. It was the engagement ring that Professor Mibu had given her. He removed it from her finger and looked at it.

"What are you going to do with that?" she asked.

"When Monday gets here, I'm gonna give it back to Mibu," he said, placing it on the bedside table. "What I'd really like to do is shove it down his throat. But with graduation nearly here, I don't feel like getting kicked out for assaulting a teacher."

Sakura tightened her hold on him. "I'm glad you feel that way. It'd get rather lonely without you here with me."

Syaoran smiled for a split second then it went away and he got a sad look on his face. This did not go unnoticed by Sakura.

"Syaoran-kun, what's wrong? Why do you look so sad?"

Syaoran sighed. "When I found out that you were serious about getting married and I couldn't do anything about it, I told my mother that I would come back to China at the end of the school year and help run my father's company. I already have the plane tickets bought. All I needed to do was pack up."

Sakura's eyes started to tear up. "Syaoran-kun...?"

Syaoran brought his hands up and brushed them away. "But that's not going to happen. I nearly lost you because I ran off to China without as much as a good-bye. Never again will I do that. I know where I belong now and that's right here with you in Japan."

"But what will your mother say?"

"I don't care what she will say. I've made my mind up. I'm staying with you weather she likes it or not."

"You're so stubborn, you know that?" she said with a smile.

"I know. Sakura, there's something I have to ask you."

"What is it?"

"When we graduate will you... will you marry me?"

Sakura's eyes widened then she smiled one of the biggest smiles that Syaoran had ever seen.

"Yes, yes, of course I'll marry you, Syaoran!"

Syaoran hugged her closer and kissed her. "Thank you, Sakura. You've made me the happiest man alive."

"And you've made me the happiest woman alive."

"That's how I plan to keep it. Forever and ever."

Sakura sighed in contentment, closing her eyes. "That sounds nice," she whispered. "Forever and ever..."

"Yeah," he whispered back, his eyes closing as well. "Forever and ever..."

(The End)


End file.
